Debt (Schedule Of Maturities Of Long-Term Debt) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 Term Loan A [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Term Loan B [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Other Debt [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Dean Foods Company [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Dean Foods Company [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
2012	$ 202,539		$ 169,396	$ 17,675		$ 15,468	[1]
2013	491,813		213,975	17,675		260,163	[1]
2014	1,037,375		276,384	676,230		84,761	[1]
2015	10,535			10,535
2016	970,923			470,923		500,000	[1]
Thereafter	1,066,667			524,667	[2]	542,000	[1]
Subtotal	3,779,852		659,755	1,717,705		1,402,392	[1]
Less discounts	(13,924)					(13,924)	[1]
Total outstanding debt	$ 3,765,928	$ 4,067,525	$ 659,755	$ 1,717,705		$ 1,388,468	[1]	$ 3,376,119	$ 3,932,294
Debt instrument, maturity date				Apr. 02, 2017
Conditional maturity date				Apr. 02, 2016

[1] Includes our revolving credit facility, receivables-backed facility, Dean Foods Company senior notes, subsidiary senior notes, capital lease obligations and other debt.

[2] The scheduled maturity of a portion of term loan B is April 2, 2017, subject to the condition that we meet certain leverage, debt, cash or credit rating tests following December 31, 2015. However, if at least one of these tests is not met, the maturity date for this portion of term loan B will be April 2, 2016.